title: Significance of platelet count in esophageal carcinomas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Thrombocytosis is found to be associated with unfavorable prognosis in esophageal carcinoma. Platelets produce thymidine phosphorylase which is a platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor with angiogenic activity. Increased platelet count may be translated into enhanced tumor growth. We examined the relation between platelet count and several prognostic variables in patients with esophageal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred and eighty-one cases with esophageal cancer that underwent esophagectomy in a referral cancer institute during a 5-year period were studied retrospectively. The relation between preoperative platelet count and patient age, gender, site of tumor, presence of multiple cancers and clinicopathological characteristics including histological type, tumor size, depth of penetration (T), lymph node involvement (N), distant metastasis (M), degree of differentiation, presence of vascular, lymphatic and perineural invasion was examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) constituted 93% and adenocarcinoma 7% of cases. Most of patients were in stage III, followed by stage II. The mean platelet count was 245±76 (Χ 10(9)/L). There was no statistically significant correlation between platelet counts with prognostic factors except a weak linear correlation between platelet count and and tumor size (P = 0.03, Pearson correlation coefficient: 0.16). Patients with adenocarcinoma had a higher platelet count than those with SCC (P = 0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Platelet count does not correlate with prognostic factors in esophageal cancer. However, it is significantly different between SCC and adenocarcinoma of esophagus.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. aaminian@tums.ac.ir
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aminian
authors.forename: Faramarz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Karimian
authors.forename: Rasoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mirsharifi
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alibakhshi
authors.forename: Habibollah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dashti
authors.forename: Yosra
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jahangiri
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Safari
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghaderi
authors.forename: Morteza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noaparast
authors.forename: Sharareh M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hasani
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mirsharifi
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013922:Thrombocytosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology